Brief:
Single stage, 3" diameter body tube, single 24mm motor mount, standard parachute recovery (although two twin chutes are used).

Construction:
The parts list:

• 3" x 14" body tube
• 11" nose cone with 75mm base in rocket
• 24 mm motor tube and engine hook sized for standard E engines (or D with included adapter)
• 3/16" x 2" launch lug
• Heavy cardboard centering rings for motor mount
• 4 Laser cut balsa fins
• 2 12" parachutes
• 1/4" x 48" main shock cord (body to nose cone)
• 2 1/8" x 24" shock cords for parachutes
• Sweet decal sheet

Ok, so having been a HPR nerd for some time I decided it was time to find a few kits I could build with my son and actually launch in nearby parks. I was careful in avoiding the mass-produced junk produced by the corporation whose name rhymes with testes. However, when poking around I encountered a paradox I haven't quite yet resolved. I found the "Mercury Engineering" web site whose name immediately conjured up wonderful "Mercury" visions of Alan Shepard, Gus "hatch blower" Grissom, The Right Stuff, Redstones... But also "Engineering" visions of pocket protector slide rule packing nerdy engineers. These rockets were really cool, and engineers are specifically screened to rule out any coolness factor (trust me, I am one). I assumed the "Engineering" part of the name was honorary, much in the way Elvis's black belt in karate was.

When the reasonably priced kit arrived in record time, I realized I was probably wrong. The instructions were wonderfully detailed and professionally printed with illustrations that were probably to scale. The carefully packed kit contained quality components. I especially loved the parachutes, which appeared to be a coated nylon and laser cut to boot. Are you getting the picture here folks? Clearly this was a seriously type A personality putting these kits together who was cut from same polyester as the rest of us "enginerds". But it was a really cool rocket we couldn't wait to build. As for the paradox, my best guess is that somehow this engineer slipped through the anti-cool screening along with a very short list engineer exceptions well documented by Scott Adams of "Dilbert" fame who discovered that engineer Elmer Moline of Calgary had a second date at age twenty-three, engineer Anita Fluman in California who actually has rhythm, and most startling...engineer Hugh Hunklebein in Illinois who doesn't care how his television remote control works as long as it does. Let's add the "Mercury Engineer" to the list.

Construction was straightforward, following most conventional techniques. No alignment issues, fit issues, or other "gotchas" surfaced. Quality wood glue was recommended throughout, which I am sure is the best way to produce a lightweight sturdy rocket. So of course, we frequently substituted epoxy, which had a couple advantages perhaps unique to my situation: a maximum set time of 5 minutes (the approximate attention span of my son) and seriously annoying any women of the female gender in the house that were simultaneously offended by the odor and the fact that we were using this smelly goo on the same table they intended to eat dinner at. Good times.

Finishing:
The rocket had a really cool paint scheme and sweet decal. However, I estimated that this would take a few minutes beyond the 5-minute attention span I was dealing with so we opted for our patented bumblebee finish which we could complete with paint we had handy and a few strips of masking tape. Never fear, my son discovered the decal made an excellent embellishment to the back of my teenage daughter's shirt and had the added benefit of really annoying her. Nothing went to waste.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight and Recovery:
Mutant Daddy's maiden voyage used the manufacturer recommended E9-6. The flight was great, straight, and turned a few heads. Recovery preparations were carefully described in the instructions, but borrowing from my HPR materials, I fashioned a nice Kevlar® heat shield, bypassing the recommended wadding. The twin chutes deployed on cue and untangled for a smooth ride home. After a few flights of similar success, I couldn't resist launching the Mutant on a 24mm E40 reload. The rocket took off like a rifle shot, held a beautiful trajectory, and was recovered without incident or any structural integrity issues. Nonetheless, a note to my son and any other impressionable readers: Do as the manufacturer recommends, not as I do!

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I'm sold. Great price for a fairly substantial rocket, quality components, easy build, sturdy rocket, and great flights. You'll have fun with this one.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
This is a larger low power rocket with a 3" body and 24mm motor mount. My first impression was it's a Big Daddy, but the nose cone is longer and the body thus is longer. Twin parachute recovery.

Construction:
High quality parts. Body Tube: dia=3" lg=14". Nose cone: dia=3" lg=14.5". Motor tube: dia=24mm lg=5". 2 centering rings. 1 engine hook. 1 motor block. Two 12" parachutes. Elastic Shock cord. 4 laser cut balsa fins.

This is a straightforward build. A nice large body tube to work in, 4 fins attaching to the tube. My preference would be for through the wall fins, but with epoxy fillets, the fins seem solidly attached. I used the Estes fin alignment guide for placing the fins. The only modification I made was to add a Kevlar® shield to protect the chutes.

Finishing:
I went with the paint scheme that comes on the packaging, green and black. It came out decent, just don't look closely at the nose cone.... Diagonal taping is hard. There was one decal which went on easily, and the clear is really clear.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
I have flown this twice on an E9-6. Good flights. The first flight was a windy day and one of the chutes tangled. There was a minor crack at the base of one fin, but it is still flyable. Probably just cosmetic. The second flight was perfect.

Recovery:
The shock cord is the typical elastic glued to paper and then to the body tube. I will probably use Kevlar® thread tied and glued to the motor mount and then tie an elastic cord to that in the future. The Kevlar® blanket will save on wadding for this wide mouth rocket. Be careful with the twin chutes as they will tangle, but they do look good coming down.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
Through the wall fins would improve the sturdiness of this kit if one wants to fly it on an AeroTech F motor. It is a nice looking rocket with slow flights up to about 650'on an E motor. If you like clusters, this would be a good kit to add 3 or 4 motors to.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5